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ADDRESS 

BY 

J.  A.  L.  WADDELL,  Cl  E.  Ma.  E. 

TO 

THE  ENGINEERING  STUDENTS 

OF 

The  Missouri  State  University. 

APRIL  2,  1908. 


N ADDRESS 

BY 

J.  A.  L.  WADDELL,  C.  E.  Ma. 

TO 

THE  ENGINEERING  STUDENTS 

OF 

The  Missouri  State  Un  iversity, 

APRIL  2,  1903. 


Lechtman  Printing  Co..  K.  C..  Mo  - 


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in  2017  with  funding  from 

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https://archive.org/details/addresstoengineeOOwadd 


TO  THE  UNDERGRADUATES  OF  THE  ENGINEERING  DEPARTMENT 


OF  THE  MISSOURI  STATE  UNIVERSITY. 


Younff  Gentlemen : 

When  the  Secretary  of  your  Engineering  Society  requested  me  to  de- 
liver you  a lecture,  I agreed  very  gladly,  and  asked  whether  he  would  pre- 
fer an  address  consisting  of  some  practical  advice  to  undergraduates  or  a 
talk  on  some  branch  of  my  specialty.  His  answer  was,  that  you  would 
appreciate  better  the  advice,  so  I have  arranged  to  give  it  to  you  tonight; 
but  I am  prepared  to  give  you  also  afterwards,  if  you  so  desire,  one  or 
two  talks  on  bridges.  They  will  be  essentially  extempore  and  of  a very 
informal  character;  and  will  be  illustrated  by  numerous  blue  prints  and  a 
few  photographs,  most  of  which  I shall  be  happy  to  leave  with  your  pro- 
fessor of  Civil  Engineering,  if  he  care  to  use  them  in  his  class-work. 

As  these  technical  lectures  will  be  most  uninteresting  to  all  except 
those  who  have  either  studied  the  subject  of  bridges  or  intend  to  study  it, 
I would  suggest  that  my  hearers  be  limited  to  such  students;  more  es- 
pecially because  the  illustrations  are  on  so  small  a scale  as  to  make  it  in- 
convenient for  many  persons  to  view  them  simultaneously. 

My  time  for  the  next  day  or  two  will  be  entirely  at  your  disposal;  so 
if,  when  I have  finished  addressing  you  tonight,  you  will  arrange  the  time 
and  place  f&r  us  to  meet  again,  I shall  endeavor  to  present  to  you  then, 
under  the  title  of  “The  Most  Approved  Types  of  Modern  American  Rail- 
road Bridges,”  a simple  and  concise  statement  of  the  present  status  in  this 
country  of  bridge  engineering  and  construction,  together  with  a historical 
sketch  of  the  development  thereof. 

And  now  to  the  matter  in  hand: 

Of  late  years  the  addresses  of  this  character  that  I have  made,  have 
been  presented  to  graduating  classes,  and  in  consequence,  they  have  had 
special  reference  to  the  early  professional  life  of  the  young  engineer;  but 
tonight  I desire  to  speak  to  you  mainly  concerning  your  course  in  the  Uni- 
versity and  your  undergraduate  life. 

If,  upon  the  conclusion  of  my  talk,  you  are  not  utterly  wearied,  but 
are  desirous  of  receiving  further  advice  that  will  apply  to  your  careers 
after  graduation,  I shall  be  pleased  to  offer  you  later  the  substance  of  an 
address  which  I made  last  summer  to  the  graduating  class  of  the  en- 
gineering department  of  the  Rose  Polytechnic  Institute. 

Were  there  any  probability  of  your  having  read  the  said  address,  I 
would  hesitate  about  offering  to  give  it  again,  but  you  are  not  likely  to 
have  run  across  it;  for  as  far  as  I know,  it  was  published  only  in  a local 
paper  of  Terre  Haute.  Moreover,  I said  on  that  occasion  about  all  that 
is  necessary  to  tell  you  concerning  what,  in  my  opinion,  is  best  for  the 
young  engineer  to  do  in  order  to  succeed  in  his  profession;  so  there  would 
be  no  use  in  my  preparing  for  you  another  lecture  on  the  same  subject; 
because,  if  I did,  I would  simply  repeat  myself. 

In  treating  of  the  work  of  undergraduates,  I fear  I am  treading  on 
delicate  ground,  because  it  is  possible  that  I may  say  something  which 
will  conflict  with  the  ideas  and  practice  of  your  worthy  professors  of 
Civil  Engineering.  If  so,  I beg  to  apologize  in  advance,  and  to  state  that 
my  offence  ought  to  be  excusable,  as  I know  practically  nothing  about  the 
engineering  course  given  here. 

Any  criticism  that  I may  offer  about  engineering  education  refers  to 


1 


I 


the  said  education  in  general,  and  applies  to  no  particular  institution  of 
learning. 

This  possible  trouble  that  I may  get  into  reminds  me  of  a rather 
amusing  incident  of  my  early  professional  days. 

In  1878  I acted  .for  a short  time  as  Chief  Engineer  of  a coal  -mine  in 
West  Virginia.  I say  “Chief”  advisedly,  for  I had  two  assistants,  one  white 
and  one  black,  but  neither  of  them  could  read  or  write,  excepting  that  the 
colored  man  could  make  out  the  figures  on  the  tape  line. 

After  a few  months,  when  offered  another  position  more  to  my  taste,  I 
accepted  it  and  tendered  my  resignation  to  the  owner  of  the  mine,  who 
very  kindly  expressed  his  regrets  at  my  leaving,  saying  also,  “The  miners, 
too,  will  be  sorry  to  have  you  go,  for  you  have  become  quite  popular 
among  them.”  This  took  me  all  aback,  and  I replied,  “That  is  very 
strange,  indeed,  because  for  the  last  three  months  I have  been  most  out- 
spoken in  telling  them  all  what  blooming  idiots  they  are  to  countenance 
strikes.”  To  this  the  owner  of  the  mine  replied,  “Oh,  that  is  all  right. 
They  simply  attribute  it  to  your  ignorance.” 

So,  if  in  this  address  I make  any  faux  pas  or  tread  on  anyone’s  toes, 
I hope  that,  like  the  miners,  you  will  excuse  me  and  simply  “attribute  it 
to  my  ignorance.” 

In  the  old  days  when  I was  a student, — something  more  than  a quarter 
of  a century  ago — the  general  impression  among  undergraduates  appeared 
to  be  that  they  ought  to  study  just  enough  to  pass  and  no  more;  that  their 
instructors  were  their  natural  enemies,  whose  business  it  was  to  find  out 
their  weak  points  and  to  condition  them  if  possible;  and  that  to  hood- 
wink a professor  into  believing  a student  knew  something  which  he  did 
not  know,  was  the  highest  possible  achievement  in  student  life. 

Such  a state  of  affairs  was  due  to  a variety  of  causes,  among  others 
the  following  being  prominent: 

First:  The  idea  entertained  generally  by  the  faculty  that  graduation 
from  an  engineering  school  of  high  standing  ought  to  be  a case  of  “sur- 
vival of  the  fittest,”  and  that  none  but  men  of  high  attainments  as  stu- 
dents ought  to  become  engineers. 

Second:  The  admission  of  boys  instead  of  young  men  into  engineer- 
ing schools. 

Third:  Employing  as  professors,  to  teach  engineering  subjects,  men 
who  were  mere  theorists  and  who  had  never  had  any  actual  experience  in 
either  office  or  field. 

Fourth:  The  erection  and  maintenance  of  an  artificial  barrier  be- 
tween professors  and  students,  which  prevented  them  from  meeting  on 
common,  professional  ground. 

This  spirit  of  conflict  between  professors  and  students  is  fundamen- 
tally wrong,  as  is  also  the  idea  that  a student  should  study  merely  enough 
to  pass  the  examinations.  Fortunately  for  the  engineering  profession, 
these  false  notions  are  rapidly  becoming  obsolete;  although  I note  oc- 
casionally in  my  travels  that  the  same  old  antagonism  and  want  of  con- 
fidence still  exist  to  a certain  extent  in  some  of  the  technical  schools. 

A professor  ought  to  be  his  students’  best  friend,  not  only  during  the 
time  he  is  instructing  them,  but  also  throughout  his  entire  life.  He  should 
regard  them  almost  as  his  own  sons,  and  should  encourage  them  to  turn 
to  him  for  advice  or  assistance  whenever  they  feel  the  need  of  aid  in  their 
professional  careers,  or  when  discouraged  by  the  world’s  hard  knocks. 


2 


Nor  should  he  wait  for  his  old  students  to  come  to  him  for  assistance;  but 
he  should  do  his  best  at  all  times  to  push  their  fortunes  and  advance  their 
standing  in  the  profession  by  saying,  whenever  occasion  offers,  a few 
good  words  for  them  to  the  older  engineers  and  to  any  other  individuals 
with  whom  they  are  likely  to  have  business  relations. 

Again,  the  notion  that  only  ideally  fine  students  can  become  good  pro- 
fessional-men is  entirely  erroneous.  Many  a slow-thinking  student,  who 
has  either  been  dropped  from  his  course  or  has  just  managed  by  great  ef- 
fort to  pass  the  examinations  and  take  his  degree,  has  become  a success- 
ful engineer;  and  it  is  well  known  that  many  of  the  finest  mathematicians 
who  graduate  from  technical  schools  are  never  heard  from  afterwards  in 
the  engineering  world.  Now  do  not  go  away  with  the  impression  that  I 
believe  it  is  not  the  good  students  who  make  the  best  engineers;  for  on 
the  whole,  they  most  decidedly  do;  but  I maintain,  nevertheless,  that  some 
men  who  as  students  think  slowly  and  acquire  knowledge  with  difficulty, 
after  leaving  the  technical  school,  develop  slowly  but  surely  into  sound, 
trustworthy,  and  high-class  engineers. 

In  dealing  with  such  students,  the  professor  should  not  let  their  slow- 
ness hold  back  the  brighter  and  quicker  men,  but  he  should  devote  to  the 
former  more  of  his  personal  attention,  aid  them  in  thinking  more  quickly, 
and  force  them  to  keep  up  with  the  class. 

If  such  men  are  possessed  by  a great  desire  to  succeed,  the  assistance 
thus  given  them  will  generally  put  them  through  the  course  in  fairly 
good  shape,  but  if  not,  the  sooner  their  names  are  dropped  from  the  rolls 
the  better. 

Some  of  you  may  be  thinking  that  these  last  few  remarks  of  mine  are 
better  fitted  for  an  assemblage  of  professors  than  for  one  of  technical 

students.  Perhaps  they  are;  nevertheless,  some  of  you  may  some  day  be- 
come professors;  so  in  that  case  the  said  remarks  are  apropos — at  any 
rate  they  must  not  be  construed  as  in  any  way  reflecting  upon  the  pro- 
fessors at  this  institution. 

I am  glad  to  note  that  of  late  years  the  average  age  for  entering  en- 
gineering schools  has  increased  by  a year  or  two.  In  my  class  at  Rens- 
selaer, the  average  age  for  entrance  was  seventeen  and  a half  years, — 
exactly,  by  the  way,  my  own  age  at  that  time;  but  now  I understand  that 
the  average  age  of  entrance  for  all  the  technical  schools  of  the  country  is 
about  nineteen  years — however,  I may  have  been  misinformed.  In  my 

opinion,  the  proper  age  for  entering  the  freshman  class  is  between  eighteen 
and  twenty;  less  than  eighteen  is  too  young  for  one  to  appreciate  fully  the 
course,  and  more  than  twenty  will  shorten  too  much  a man’s  working 

time;  besides,  if  one  starts  very  late  on  his  life’s  real  work,  he  is  apt  to 
have  formed  the  habit  of  depending  too  much  upon  others  for  the  neces- 
saries of  existence,  so  he  will  feel  rather  disinclined  to  earn  his  own 

living,  and  will  be  dissatisfied  with  the  character  of  the  said  living,  when 
compared  with  that  to  which  for  so  many  years  he  has  been  accustomed. 

Again,  the  time  is  coming  when  a first-class  course  in  civil  engineering 
will  demand  five  years  instead  of  four. 

Some  sixteen  years  ago,  in  a paper  on  “Civil  Engineering  Education,” 
I advocated  strongly  a five  years’  course  in  civil  engineering,  and  made  an 
outline  of  what  it  should  consist,  stating  that  a thorough  course  on  the 
subject  cannot  be  given  in  less  time.  At  present,  as  far  as  I know,  there 
is  no  technical  school  which  gives  more  than  a four  years’  course  in  en- 


3 


gineering;  but  for  several  years  McGill  University,  of  which  institution  I 
have  the  honor  to  be  an  ad  eundem  gradum  alumnus,  has  been  giving  a 
year  of  post-graduate  work ; and  this  wrork  is  soon  to  be  included  in  the 
regular  curriculum  by  increasing  the  length  of  the  course  to  five  years. 
When  this  is  done,  Canada  will  lead  the  United  States  in  civil  engineering 
education,  and  in  truth,  the  course  in  engineering  given  at  McGill  today  is 
almost,  if  not  quite,  on  a par  with  the  best  course  given  in  this  country. 

If  any  of  you  have  an  opportunity  to  take  a post-graduate  course  of  a 
year  or  two  at  some  first-class  technical  school,  so  as  to  continue  your  en- 
gineering studies  beyond  the  confines  of  the  ordinary  curriculum,  by  all 
means  avail  yourselves  thereof.  The  time  thus  occupied  will  be  well  spent; 
and  you  will  never  have  occasion  to  regret  such  an  expenditure.  During 
such  a period  you  will  be  almost  your  own  masters,  and  will  be  free  to 
work  when  and  on  what  you  choose. 

It  is  an  excellent  plan  for  a boy  who  contemplates  following  the  pro- 
fession of  civil  engineering  to  spend  a few  years  at  college  taking  an  Arts 
course,  and  if  time  permit,  the  degree  given  with  same,  before  entering 
a technical  school;  but  in  such  a case  he  should  elect  to  take  as  many  of 
the  science  studies  as  possible,  and  omit  entirely  the  dead  languages  and 
most  of  the  living  ones. 

The  study  of  the  dead  languages  is  a relic  of  the  dark  ages,  and 
clings  to  our  institutions  of  learning  as  rigidly  as  did  the  Old  Man  of  the 
Sea  to  Sinbad  the  Sailor;  while  most  of  the  time  spent  by  engineering 
students  in  the  study  of  modern  languages  is  totally  wasted.  This  is  for 
two  reasons;  first,  because  not  one  in  ten  learns  any  more  about  them 
than  merely  enough  to  pass  the  examinations;  and  second,  even  if  one 
should  learn  a modern  language  well,  he  would  have  no  practical  use  for  it 
in  the  United  States;  consequently,  in  my  opinion,  the  time  devoted  to  its 
study  could  be  used  to  far  better  advantage  on  something  of  a more  prac- 
tical nature. 

The  plea  that  is  generally  made  for  the  study  of  modern  languages  in 
engineering  schools,  is  that  there  are  so  many  good  things  in  French  and 
German  scientific  books  of  which  the  young  engineer  would  be  deprived, 
did  he  not  study  these  languages.  To  this  plea  I beg  to  reply  as  follows: 

First:  There  is  very  little  in  either  language  that  would  be  of  any 
practical  value  to  American  engineers. 

Second:  That,  if  occasionally  a useful  article  or  treatise  does  appear 
in  French  or  German  technical  literature,  it  is  very  soon  translated  into' 
English. 

Third:  There  are  already  more  good  engineering  books  in  the  English 
language  than  one  can  find  time  to  read;  and. 

Fourth:  And  finally — not  one  student  in  fifty  at  an  engineering 
school  learns  a modern  language  with  sufficient  thoroughness  to  translate 
or  even  properly  to  comprehend  a technical  paper  written  therein. 

The  only  foreign  language  which  would  be  of  any  practical  value  to  an 
American  engineer  is  Spanish — and  the  technical  schools  do  not  teach  that. 

Instead  of  worrying  the  students’  brains  with  Latin,  Greek,  French  and 
German,  why  not  give  them  thorough  instruction  in  English,  so  that  they 
would  all  become  truly  masters  of  their  own  language? 

What  percentage  of  the  graduates  from  engineering  schools  are  well 
posted  in  English?  How  many  of  them  can  spell  correctly?  How  many 
of  them  can  write  a decent  letter?  Alas!  the  percentage  is  indeed  small. 


4 


Of  this  I constantly  have  ample  proof  in  the  applications  for  work  which 
we  receive  from  recent  graduates. 

Again,  I do  not  believe  that  the  English  language  is  taught  properly  to 
engineering  students.  Too  much  attention  is  given  to  the  study  of  works 
of  the  old  writers  and  their  antiquated  diction,  while  no  time  is  spent  in 
teaching  the  young  man  how  to  express  himself  clearly,  tersely  and  em- 
phatically. 

Moreover,  why  spend  a lot  of  time  studying  and  analyzing  poetical 
works?  It  is  plain,  every-day  prose,  not  poetry,  that  the  engineer  has  to 
deal  with  in  his  life’s  work;  and  believe  me,  there  is  nothing  which  will 
be  of  greater  advantage  to  a good  engineer  than  a thorough,  practical 
knowledge  of  his  own  tongue. 

In  giving  the  various  courses  in  English  (and  I believe  they  should  be 
distributed  throughout  the  entire  four  or  even  five  years),  why  not  adopt, 
for  some  of  the  examples  of  standard  literature,  works  of  American  en- 
gineers which  are  written  in  good  English? 

It  is  engineering  reports,  specifications,  papers  and  books  which  the 
engineering  student  is  likely  to  write  after  graduating,  and  not  novels,  nor 
poetry,  nor  books  of  travel. 

How  few  engineers  can  prepare  a truly  first-class  specification! 

The  writing  of  specifications  is  an  art,  and  therefore  ought  to  be  cul- 
tivated: but  unfortunately,  all  the  engineers  of  my  acquaintance,  who  in- 
dulge in  the  preparation  of  such  literature,  have  had  to  learn  the  said  art 
after  graduation,  and  by  means  of  many  hard  experiences. 

Experience  is  certainly  a good  teacher,  but  it  is  a costly  one;  and 
there  is  no  reason  why  a young  man  leaving  a technical  school  should 
not  be  thoroughly  grounded,  not  only  in  the  elements  of  specification-writ- 
ing,  but  also  on  the  finer  points  thereof. 

If  there  be  time  within  the  next  few  days,  and  if  you  so  desire,  my 
assistant,  Mr.  Ash,  would  be  pleased  to  give  you  a short  talk  on  the  prep- 
aration of  engineering  specifications. 

There  is  one  feature  of  college  life  which  I cannot  commend  too  highly 
to  engineering  students.  I refer  to  the  literary,  debating,  and  scientific 
socities  that  flourish  in  some  of  the  larger  technical  schools.  These  should 
receive  every  encouragement  from  both  professors  and  students. 

The  training  that  a young  man  imbibes  from  debating  and  from  writ- 
ing and  reading  papers  is  of  more  value  than  most  people  suppose.  It  en- 
ables him  to  hold  his  own  in  after  life  when  striving  to  push  his  claims, 
not  only  by  improving  his  diction,  but  also  by  giving  him  confidence  in 
himself.  Modesty  in  an  engineer  is  more  often  a fault  than  a virtue. 

It  is  possible  to  acquire  at  college  a literary  taste,  although  one  may 
never  before  have  shown  any  ability  in  that  line;  so  I advise  you  to  culti- 
vate one,  even  at  the  expense  of  extreme  effort. 

Let  me  advise  you  to  study  the  subject  of  plane  trigonometry  so 
thoroughly  that  you  will  be  able  to  use  it  with  as  much  facility  as  you  em- 
ploy the  four  simple  rules  of  arithmetic;  and  to  familiarize  yourselves 
thoroughly  with  logarithms;  for  as  field  engineers,  you  will  be  called  upon 
to  employ  constantly  trigonometric  furictions  and  to  shorten  your  compu- 
tations by  means  of  logarithmic  calculations. 

These  are  subjects  which  are  very  easily  forgotten,  so  it  is  well  for 
a young  engineer,  when  he  finds  himself  becoming  rusty  therein,  to  refresh 


5 


his  memory  occasionally  by  reviewing  their  theory  and  making  a few  prac- 
tical applications  of  same. 

To  be  strictly  honest  with  you,  I fear  I have  forgotten  almost  all  I 
ever  knew  about  logarithms,  as  it  is  a number  of  years  since  I have  had 
occasion  personally  to  apply  them,  such  work  in  my  practice  being  turned 
over  to  younger  men.  It  is  strange  how  readily  one  forgets!  However,  if  a 
man  has  ever  studied  a subject  thoroughly,  he  will  never  have  much  trouble 
in  brushing  up  on  it  again,  notwithstanding  a lapse  of  many  years. 

Students  of  mathematics  have  a false  notion  that  it  is  necessary  for 
them  to  learn  merely  the  theory,  and  that  it  is  useless  for  tnem  to  spend 
time  in  making  practical  applications  thereof.  They  think,  too,  that  ap- 
proximately correct  results  are  good  enough;  or  even  if  their  figuring  proves 
to  be  incorrect,  it  is  needless  to  go  through  it  again,  because  familiarity 
with  figures  will  come  later  with  practice. 

This  is  all  wrong  and  most  reprehensible,  because  it  is  at  school  that 
the  young  man  should  learn  habits  of  accuracy  and  neatness.  Without 
such  habits  he  will  never  be  truly  successful,  nor  able  to  accomplish  great 
things  in  his  profession. 

Let  me  advise  you  to  devote  some  attention  to  the  subject  of  triangula- 
tion, by  reading  up  all  there  is  written  thereon,  working  out  some  old 
cases  from  actual  practice,  and  finally  laying  out  and  computing  a triangula- 
tion system  for  yourselves. 

You  will  experience  great  pleasure  and  satisfaction  in  seeing  how 
closely  your  work  will  check.  It  is  almost  incredible  to  what  a small 
amount  the  errors  in  triangulation  work  can  be  reduced.  For  instance,  on 
our  Fraser  River  Bridge  at  New  Westminster,  where  the  bridge  tangent  is 
some  twenty-three  hundred  (2,300)  feet  long  between  base  lines,  two  of  our 
triangles  checked  that  distance  within  two  and  a half  hundredths  (0.025) 
of  an  inch,  the  average  total  angular  error  per  triangle  being  less  than  one 
second.  Numerous  measurements  of  base  lines  and  readings  of  angles,  to- 
gether with  the  utmost  care,  are  necessary  to  secure  such  accurate  results 
as  these. 

Should  you  or  your  professors  desire  some  old  triangulation  sheets,  you 
can  obtain  them  by  sending  a request  therefor  to  the  office  of  my  firm. 

Learn  to  keep  records  neatly,  thoroughly  and  systematically.  I cannot 
impress  upon  you  too  forcibly  the  importance  of  this  advice.  Systemiza- 
tion  of  all  that  one  does  is  the  keynote  to  professional  success. 

Let  me  urge  you  to  be  thorough  in  all  your  mathematical  studies; 
never  quit  a difficult  point  until  you  have  comprehended  it  totally  and  ab- 
solutely. Don’t  be  content  with  thinking  that  you  understand  it,  but  stick 
at  it  till  you  know  that  you  do  beyond  the  peradventure  of  a doubt.  The 
test  of  your  knowledge  is  your  ability  to  demonstrate  the  point  to  an- 
other student  in  such  a clear  way  that  he  cannot  help  comprehending  it 
also. 

This  has  been  a guiding  principle  of  mine  for  over  thirty  years,  and  I 
assure  you  it  is  a good  one. 

I recall  an  extreme  case  of  its  application,  which  may  interest  you. 

When  acting  as  assistant  professor  of  rational  and  technical  mechanics 
at  the  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Institute  in  1879,  I was  saddled  with  the 
drafting  part  of  the  various  courses  in  descriptive  geometry,  but  had  noth- 
ing whatsoever  to  do  with  the  teaching  of  the  theory. 

One  evening  about  7 o’clock  there  came  into  my  room  a young  sopho- 


6 


more,  a Cuban,  and  by  far  the  brightest  man  in  his  class,  with  whom  I 
was  on  very  friendly  terms;  in  fact,  he  was  then  giving  me  instruction  in 
Spanish.  He  told  me  that  there  were  three  lines  in  Warren’s  Descriptive 
Geometry  in  the  problem  of  the  cow’s  horn,  which  he  could  not  understand, 
and  that  he  would  like  my  assistance  thereon;  so,  of  course,  I had  to 
tackle  the  job. 

Now  Windy  Warren,  as  we  used  to  dub  him,  was  the  blindest  writer 
ever  known  to  the  men  of  R.  P.  I.,  and  although  as  a student,  I had  studied 
his  books,  this  particular  problem  had  been  omitted  from  my  course. 
Never  before  in  all  my  reading  had  I struck  such  a miserably  blind,  knotty 
case.  After  I had  spent  half  an  hour  on  the  thing  without  producing  the 
slightest  result  on  my  mental  conception,  my  young  friend  saw  that  he 
had  let  me  in  for  some  hard  work,  which  would  be  additional'  to  that  on 
which  I was  employed  when  he  entered  my  room,  and  which  had  to  be 
prepared  for  the  morrow’s  classes  in  mechanics;  so  he  expressed  his  regret 
at  having  troubled  me  and  proposed  to  take  his  departure. 

Knowing  that  if  I let  him  go  with  the  point  unsolved,  I would  lose 
my  prestige  with  him  as  an  instructor,  I said:  “You  have  brought  me 
this  problem,  and  I am  not  going  to  quit  working  on  it  until  I have  solved 
it;  and  what  is  more,  you  are  going  to  stay  in  this  room  until  I have  dis- 
covered the  solution,  so  make  yourself  comfortable  and  go  on  with  your 
study  of  tomorrow’s  lessons.”  He  did  so,  and  I continued  for  hour  after 
hour  to  pore  over  those  three  wretched  lines,  till  just  before  midnight  I 
solved  the  problem  and  demonstrated  it  to  the  young  man.  The  next  day 
he  was  the  only  member  of  the  class  who  was  able  to  explain  it  on  the 
black-board. 

Apropos  of  descriptive  geometry,  let  me  advise  you  to  study  thoroughly 
and  well,  all  the  courses  in  this  branch  of  learning,  from  the  elementary 
plane  problems,  up  through  projection  drawing,  descriptive  geometry,  shades 
and  shadows,  perspective,  and  stereotomy.  It  is  a beautiful  course  of  study 
and  one  of  absorbing  interest,  involving  many  delightful  hours  of  most  sat- 
isfactory investigations. 

In  order  to  grasp  the  problems  of  descriptive  geometry  and  its  allied 
studies,  it  is  necessary  for  the  student  to  think  in  space  and  not  upon  a 
plane.  Let  him  imagine  the  object,  which  is  to  be  portrayed,  to  be  located 
near  a corner  formed  by  three  rectangular  planes  and  at  a short  distance 
from  each  plane.  Then  let  him  imagine  his  eye  removed  to  a great  distance 
so  as  to  look  at  the  object  with  lines  of  sight  practically  parallel  and  per- 
pendicular to  the  three  'co-ordinate  planes.  When  he  can  thus  see  the  ob- 
ject in  space  he  will  comprehend  the  theory  of  horizontal  and  vertical  pro- 
jections, and  can  begin  to  think  of  how  the  said  object  would  look  when 
intersected  by  oblique  planes,  cylindrical  surfaces,  etc.  In  this  way,  and 
this  only,  will  he  be  able  to  deal  with  and  handle  properly  complicated 
problems  in  descriptive  geometry. 

If  I were  again  a student,  I would  investigate  these  descriptive  geom- 
etry branches  much  more  deeply  than  is  done  in  the  ordinary  engineering 
course,  for  not  only  would  I make  many  extra  drawings  to  illustrate  the 
problems,  but  I would  also  build  illustrative  models  with  paper,  wood,  and 
threads. 

Once  in  a while  in  our  office  practice,  when  engaged  on  some  unusually 
difficult  and  complicated  piece  of  designing,  we  resort  to  modeling  as  an 
aid  to  a proper  conception  of  the  proposed  construction. 


7 


The  last  time  we  did  anything  in  this  line  was  in  connection  with 
the  designing  of  the  spread-span  of  the  large  bridge  which  we  are  now 
building  over  the  Fraser  River  at  New  Westminster  for  the  Government 
of  British  Columbia.  The  preparation  of  this  model  was  entrusted  to  a 
young  Japanese  engineer,  Mr.  Fujino,  who  was  first  a student  in  our  of- 
fice and  afterwards  one  of  our  most  trustworthy  assistants.  The  model 
that  he  manufactured  out  of  card  board  was  used  by  a number  of  our  drafts- 
men in  preparing  the  working  drawings. 

Learn  how  to  make  good  perspective-drawings.  It  is  an  accomplish- 
ment which  some  day  may  prove  useful,  especially  when  dealing  with 
financial  men,  who  often  desire  to  see  what  a proposed  structure  will  look 
like,  and  who  cannot  understand  projection  drawings. 

If  you  have  any  natural  taste  for  free-hand  sketching,  by  all  means 
cultivate  it,  because  not  only  will  such  an  accomplishment  aid  you  in 
filling  out  the  landscape  on  perspective  drawings,  but  also  it  will  be  ex- 
ceedingly useful  in  making  pocket-book  sketches  of  machinery,  structures 
and  other  objects  of  interest. 

As  an  example  of  the  use  of  perspective,  I shall  show  you  tomorrow  a 
couple  of  photographs  of  perspective  drawings  of  bridges  made  lately  by 
one  of  our  Japanese  assistants.  That  of  the  St.  Charles  bridge  over  the 
Missouri  River  was  prepared  by  the  request  of  the  project’s  financiers,  and 
the  one  of  the  Fraser  River  bridge  for  some  of  the  officers  of  the  British 
Columbian  Government. 

Some  young  men  have  an  idea  that  it  is  a bad  thing  to  be  a gooJ 
draftsman,  because  one  who  is  expert  in  this  line  is  apt  to  be  kept  at 
drafting  work,  so  that  it  does  not  pay  to  excel  in  the  merely  mechanical 
part  of  drafting.  Anyone  who  has  acted  on  this  principle  would  have  a 
very  poor  chance  of  obtaining  employment  in  the  office  of  my  firm,  for 
we  have  no  use  for  any  engineer  who  is  incapable  of  making  a drawing 
which  will  not  do  discredit  to  the  office.  There  is  no  more  reason  in  such 
an  idea  as  this  than  there  would  be  ip  a young  merchant  cultivating  an 
illegible  hand  for  fear  that  his  employers  may  confine  his  services  to  book- 
keeping. 

By  all  means  learn  to  do  lettering  quickly  and  neatly.  Proficiency  in 
such  work  will  certainly  stand  one  in  good  stead  sooner  or  later. 

You  ought  to  pay  special  attention  to  the  keeping  of  clean,  clear,  sys- 
tematic notes  and  records  of  both  field  work  and  office  work.  This  you 
can  do  while  you  are  still  at  school,  first,  by  keeping  your  field  notes  in  the 
most  approved  way,  and  second,  by  spending  a month  or  two  of  your  va- 
cations in  a large  engineering  office,  where  you  will  be  able  to  study  the 
latest  and  best  methods  of  filing  and  indexing  letters,  drawings,  specifica- 
tions, contracts,  etc. 

Learn  how  to  prepare  and  use  a card-index;  for  without  one,  no  en- 
gineering office  that  does  great  work  can  be  handled  to  best  advantage. 

If  I were  in  your  place,  I would  spend  almost  the  entire  time  of  every 
vacation  in  doing  some  actual  engineering  work,  mostly  in  the  field  on 
account  of  both  the  health  and  experience  that  are  to  be  thus  gained,  but 
also  partially  in  the  office. 

Do  not-  try  to  earn  money  on  such  work,  but  offer  your  services  gratis, 
because,  as  a rule,  they  are  worth  very  little  in  the  field  and  less  than 
nothing  in  the  office.  If  you  receive  pay,  you  will  probably  be  kept  pretty 


8 


steadily  at  one  class  of  work;  but  if  not,  you  will  feel  at  liberty  to  ask  for  a 
varied  experience. 

Moreover,  if,  when  you  leave,  your  employer  thinks  that  you  have  been 
of  actual  service  to  him  and  that  your  work  has  been  of  real  value,  he  is 
likely  to  present  you  with  some  small  amount  of  money  as  compensation. 

Remember  that  in  England  young  men  who  are  studying  engineering 
have  to  pay  large  sums  for  the  privilege  of  working  for  several  years  with- 
out salary  in  the  employ  of  prominent  engineers. 

In  this  country  we  have  not  come  to  that  yet,  although  my  partner,  Mr. 
Hedrick,  once  threatened  to  establish  in  our  office  the  custom  of  demand- 
ing initiation  fees;  for  he  complained  bitterly  of  being  tired  of  running  a 
kindergarten  and  having  the  young  men  leave  as  soon  as  they  had  learned 
to  make  themselves  useful  and  had  become  able  to  really  earn  small  sal- 
aries in  the  employ  of  bridge  manufacturing  companies. 

In  spite  of  the  many  unsatisfactory  features  involved  in  training  young 
engineers,  we  still  continue  to  do  so  for  our  own  benefit  as  well  as  for 
theirs;  because  we  find  that  those  who  come  straight  from  technical 
schools  to  our  office  for  their  practical  instruction  are  afterwards  much 
more  satisfactory  than  those  who  come  to  us  after  having  had  several 
years’  experience  elsewhere,  the  latter  having  so  many  things  to  unlearn. 

If  you  spend  a vacation  in  an  engineer’s  office,  learn  how  to  write 
business  letters,  how  to  copy  and  file  them,  how  to  keep  accounts,  and  the 
general  routine  of  the  office;  and  make  in  your  note-book  full  records  of 
all  these  things. 

The  keeping  of  accounts  is  such  an  important  matter  that  I .would  ad- 
vise your  taking  a course  in  book-keeping  before  you  graduate.  This  you 
could  ‘do  during  some  of  your  spare  hours.  The  course  need  not  be  a very 
elaborate  one,  but  it  should  be  thorough,  notwithstanding. 

When  spending  a vacation  on  field-work,  learn  as  much  as  you  can  of 
the  minor  details  of  same,  and  consider  nothing  as  infra  dig.  You  should 
be  able  to  shovel  concrete,  cut  threads  on  pipes,  couple  up  piping,  saw  tim- 
ber, fire  and  oil  an  engine,  sharpen  tools,  drive  rivets,  measure 
up  work  of  all  kinds,  and  in  short,  make  yourself  generally  useful  whether 
you  are  working  in  the  employ  of  the  contractor  or  on  the  engineer  corps. 

No  source  of  information  is  so  lowly  as  to  be  despised;  because  a 
skilled  workman  or  even  an  intelligent  navvy  can  tell  you  many  useful  things 
which  you  will  not  find  written  in  any  book. 

Be  ever  on  the  alert  to  pick  up,  record  and  systematize  knowledge 
of  every  kind  that  promises  in  any  way  to  prove  useful  in  your  profes- 
sional career. 

Study  carefully  the  printed  forms  and  methods  of  making  monthly  es- 
timates, progress  reports,  pay-rolls,  distribution  sheets,  pile-driving  records, 
etc.,  that  are  adopted  on  large  engineering  constructions,  and  obtain  for 
your  own  future  use  copies  of  all  blank  forms  employed  for  field-work. 

Learn  from  observation,  and  by  cultivating  the  acquaintance  of  those 
experienced  therein,  how  to  deal  with  and  handle  workmen;  and  see  if 
you  cannot  from  your  own  observations  come  to  the  conclusion  that  practical 
engineering  and  the  science  of  compromise  are  very  closely  allied. 

As  every  energetic  man  has  his  fads  or  hobbies,  it  is  well  to  cultivate 
those  which  are  useful;  so  I would  suggest  that  you  go  in  for  amateur 
photography,  learning  how  to  take  good  photographs,  even  if  you  do  not 
develop  them  yourselves.  Daily  photographs  of  construction  are  a most 


9 


useful  adjunct  to  progress  reports  on  important  engineering  works.  My 
firm  encourages  its  resident  engineers  to  take  such  daily  photographs,  and 
we  find  that  it  pays  us  well. 

There  is  one  feature,  common  to  the  curricula  of  all  the  engineering 
schools  in  America,  which  I feel  compelled  to  criticize  severely;  and  that 
is  the  failure  of  the  faculty  to  include  in  the  course  of  study  any  reference 
to  the  history  of  civil  engineering  and  its  development.  In  consequence, 
the  graduates  are  unacquainted  with  the  great  engineering  works  of  the 
past,  and  do  not  even  know  the  names  of  the  famous  engineers  who  are 
dead,  nor  of  those  who  are  making  engineering  history  today. 

Let  me  give  you  an  illustration  of  this.  A couple  of  years  ago,  when 
traveling,  I became  acquainted  with  a pleasant  young  fellow,  and  ascer- 
tained that  he  was  a graduate  of  one  of  the  leading  Eastern  technical 
schools,  so  our  conversation  naturally  drifted  to  engineering  subjects.  In- 
cidentally, I mentioned  the  name  of  my  friend,  Mr.  Elmer  L.  Corthell,  as 
being  connected  with  some  large  undertaking,  but  the  young  man  had 
never  heard  of  him,  so  asked  who  he  is.  I explained  that  he  is  one  of 
America’s  most  eminent  engineers,  and  that  he  makes  a specialty  of 
harbor  work.  I also  said  that  in  his  younger  days  he  had  been  the  right- 
hand-man  of  Capt.  Eads  on  the  Mississippi  jetties,  but,  mirabile  dictu,  the 
young  man  had  not  heard  of  either  Captain  Eads  or  the  Mississippi  jetty- 
work. 

Such  ignorance  as  this  is  inexcusable,  but  the  young  man  was  not  to 
blame — the  fault  lay  with  his  instructors. 

In  order  to  try  to  correct  this  sad  state  of  affairs,  I am  going  to  suggest 
to  the  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Engineering  Education  that  a number 
of  its  members  combine  to  write  a book,  entitled,  “The  History  of  Civil 
Engineering,”  apportioning  the  task  among  a number  of  them  by  dividing 
up  the  subject  into  the  various  specialties,  letting  each  writer  work  up 
independently  the  history  of  that  specialty,  and  combining  all  the  resulting 
papers  into  a single  large  volume. 

In  this  way  the  work  of  many  able  men  of  both  the  past  and  the  pres- 
ent would  receive  merited  recognition,  the  engineering  profession  would 
obtain  some  most  interesting  and  enjoyable  reading  matter,  and  the  young 
fellows  turned  out  of  technical  schools  to  become  members  of  the  greatest 
of  all  the  learned  professions  would  no  longer  be  densely  ignorant  of  that 
profession’s  history  and  of  the  names  of  its  great  men. 

I am  constantly  advising  young  engineers  to  join  the  various  engineer- 
ing societies,  and  to  become  personally  acquainted  with  engineers  of  es- 
tablished reputation,  so  I can  do  no  better  than  to  repeat  this  advice  for 
your  benefit. 

I counsel  you  also  to  read  two  or  three  of  the  principal  engineering 
papers  and  magazines,  so  as  to  keep  in  touch  with  what  is  going  on  in 
the  engineering  world.  After  a while  you  should  write  occasionally  for 
these  periodicals. 

Make  it  a matter  of  pride  to  keep  all  appointments  promptly.  An  es- 
tablished reputation  for  so  doing  is  a strong  point  in  a man’s  favor,  and 
tends  to  render  him  popular  among  business  men,  whose  “time  is  money.” 

During  your  technical  course,  visit  and  examine  thoroughly  as  many 
engineering  constructions,  manufactories,  etc.,  as  your  time  will  permit, 
and  make  notes  thereon  in  your  pocket-book  for  future  reference.  Study 
the  why  and  wherefore  of  everything  you  observe,  and  do  not  be  content 


10 


with  half-understandings.  Study  also  to  see  whether  you  can  evolve  ways 
of  improving  the  various  works,  plants,  methods,  machinery,  mechanical 
contrivances,  etc.,  that  you  encounter,  for  there  is  always  the  possibility  of 
your  discovering  something  of  value,  besides  you  are  sure  by  so  doing  to 
develop  greatly  your  mental  faculties. 

Learn  to  use  your  judgment  and  to  decide  quickly  and  finally.  Some 
engineers  make  a point  of  having  a string  tied  to  each  of  their  decisions, 
with  the  natural  consequence  that  they  fail  to  accomplish  much,  and  never 
finish  up  a piece  of  work  cleanly  and  thoroughly. 

If  possible,  a design  for  any  construction  should  be  made  complete  at 
the  outset  before  any  actual  work  is  done,  as  changes  in  plans  involve 
trouble  and  expense  for  everybody  concerned,  and  tend  to  produce  patch- 
work. 

Don’t  make  up  your  minds  that  you  will  either  like  or  dislike  any 
particular  branch  of  the  profession  before  you  have  had  considerable  ex- 
perience in  actual  practice;  because,  if  you  do,  you  are  likely  to  make  a 
mistake.  Years  ago  I made  up  my  mind  that  bridge  engineering  would  not 
be  to  my  taste,  simply  because  I saw  one  of  my  fellow  graduates  with  his 
head  bowed  over  a drawing  board  making  a tracing. 

It  seemed  to  me  then  that  such  work  must  be  the  ns  plus  ultra  of  un- 
interesting occupation;  while  today  I am  convinced  that  of  all  the  numer- 
ous and  diversified  branches  of  civil  engineering  there  is  none  to  com- 
pare with  bridge  work  in  the  absorbing  interest  that  it  involves  for  those 
who  adopt  it  as  a specialty. 

So  much  for  early  and  immature  impressions — beware  of  them,  lest  they 
lead  you  into  error! 

Some  inexperienced  young  men  think  that  an  engineer  should  devote 
his  entire  time  to  strictly  engineering  work,  and  that  any  portion  of  it 
spent  in  any  other  occupation  is  wasted.  This  is  another  fallacy  that  ought 
to  be  exploded. 

It  is  true  that  there  are  some  engineers  whose  entire  time  is  confined 
to  purely  engineering  work,  but  these  men  are  computers  and  the  like, 
who  grind  away  from  one  year’s  end  to  another  on  intricate  but  tire- 
some calculations,  and  whose  salaries  never  attain  to  munificence;  while 
most  of  those  engineers  tvho  spend  a large  portion,  or  perhaps  all  of  their 
time  on  business  matters,  earn  eventually  large  compensation. 

One  of  the  most  important  duties  that  an  engineer  is  ever  called  upon 
to  perform,  might  be  considered  by  some  people  as  not  being  engineering  at 
all.  I refer  to  the  work  that  he  does  in  aiding  projectors  of  enterprises 
to  finance  their  schemes. 

An  incident  or  two  from  my  own  practice  will  serve  to  illustrate  this 
kind  of  work  and  its  importance. 

Some  ten  or  twelve  years  ago  I was  acting  as  consulting  engineer  to  a 
promoter,  who  was  trying  to  finance,  with  some  Eastern  capitalists,  a pro- 
ject involving  a large  bridge  and  a terminal  railway  system. 

At  first  the  promoter’s  ideas  were  very  large,  and  his  project  did  not 
appeal  strongly  to  the  capitalists,  so  by  degrees  he  lopped  off  one  extrava- 
gance after  another  till  at  last  he  reduced  the  total  sum  required  from 
over  two  million  dollars  to  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand.  This  was  a 
bed-rock  figure,  and  he  knew  that,  if  he  failed  this  time  to  finance  the 
scheme,  the  jig  wrould  be  up;  so  he  took  me  East  with  him  to  interview' 
the  powers  and  to  back  him  up  in  his  arguments. 


11 


By  this  time  the  financial  men  were  getting  tired  of  the  project,  so 
after  giving  my  friend  a hearing  they  excused  themselves  and  retired  for  a 
consultation. 

In  about  half  an  hour  they  returned  and  reported  that  that  would  be 
the  last  time  they  would  ever  listen  to  the  project,  and  that  the  decision 
which  they  were  about  to  announce  would  be  final. 

They  stated  that  they  would  be  willing  to  take  five  hundred  thousand 
dollars’  worth  of  the  securities,  if  within  three  days  my  friend  could  place 
the  remaining  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars’  worth.  This  de- 
cision seemed  to  take  the  promoter’s  breath  away,  for  he  recognized  it  as 
a bluff  made  to  freeze  him  out,  and  he  did  not  dare  to  call  it,  so  kept  ab- 
solutely silent  for  several  minutes. 

Seeing  that  my  principal  was  knocked  out,  I arose  and  said,  “Very 
well,  gentlemen,  we  shall  be  here  on  Thursday  noon  with  subscriptions  for 
the  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars;”  then  we  took  our  departure. 

When  we  got  outside  of  the  building  my  friend  said,  “What  is  the 
use  in  trying  to  work  a bluff  like  that?  You  cannot  possibly  raise  such 
a sum  of  money  in  three  days.  How  do  you  expect  to  do  it?” 

To  which  I answered,  “We  can  arrange  the  affair  in  forty-eight  hours 

by  giving  a private  contract  for  the  superstructure  to  the  Bridge 

Company  and  another  for  the  substructure  to  the Foundation  Com- 

pany, on  the  condition  that  each  concern  will  take  in  part  payment  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars’  worth  of  the  securities;  your  friend,  Mr.  So-and- 
So,  will  take  twenty-five  thousand  more,  and  you  and  I together  will  put 
up  the  other  twenty-five  thousand.” 

All  this  was  worked  out  as  I figured,  and  on  Thursday  noon  we  were 
at  the  office  of  the  capitalists  with  all  the  subscriptions  taken — much  to 
their  amazement,  and,  I may  add,  to  their  dissatisfaction. 

Here  is  another  example  of  financiering  by  the  engineer  after  the  pro- 
moters had  failed.  I sometimes  tell  the  story  by  making  the  broad  claim 
that  I am  the  man  who  prevented  the  capital  of  Missouri  from  pelng  re- 
moved from  Jefferson  City  to  Sedalia. 

For  a number  of  years  I was  working  on  the  project  to  build  a wagon 
bridge  across  the  Missouri  River  at  Jefferson  City;  but  it  failed  to  material- 
ize for  quite  a while. 

At  last  the  citizens  of  the  city  subscribed  for  a sufficient  sum  to  war- 
rant the  work  being  started,  so  I was  retained  to  make  surveys,  prepare 
plans  and  specifications,  and  let  the  contract. 

As  per  instructions,  I made  layouts  and  estimates  for  a high  bridge 
at  the  foot  of  the  central  street  of  the  city  and  for  a low  bridge  some  dis- 
tance up  stream,  reporting  in  favor  of  the  latter,  not  only  because  of  its 
smaller  initial  cost,  but  also  because  the  annual  charges  for  maintenance 
would  be  much  less. 

However,  the  committee  preferred  the  other  bridge,  so  my  recom- 
mendation was  ignored  and  a contract  was  let  for  the  high  bridge,  notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  only  a portion  of  the  necessary  money  had  been 
subscribed. 

The  most  strenuous  efforts  failed  to  raise  the  balance  of  the  subscrip- 
tion, so  one  day  I was  called  to  Jefferson  City  to  meet  the  committee, 
who,  after  consultation,  informed  me  that  the  project  would  have  to  be 
dropped. 

Shortly  before  this,  there  had  been  inaugurated  by  the  people  of  Se- 


12 


dalia  their  big  fight  for  the  capital,  one  of  their  strongest  pleas  being 
that  Jefferson  City  was  difficult  of  access  from  the  North  during  the  win- 
ter, when  the  ice  was  not  safe,  and  during  the  high-water  period  when 
navigation  was  dangerous,  and  that  consequently  legislators  and  others, 
in  order  to  cross  the  river,  often  had  to  go  all  the  way  to  St.  Louis  and 
back. 

The  people  of  Jefferson  City  were  feeling  pretty  blue  just  then,  for 
they  thought  the  capital  would  certainly  be  lost  to  them. 

After  hearing  the  decision  of  the  committee,  I replied,  “Well,  gentle- 
men, you  would  not  take  my  advice  and  build  a low  bridge  upstream,  and 
now  you  see  the  result.  You  could  have  managed  to  raise  enough  money 
for  a low  bridge,  while  you  cannot  raise  enough  for  a high  one.  My  ad- 
vice to  you  is  to  reconsider  your  decision,  and  revert  to  the  low  bridge  pro- 
ject.” 

To  this  one  of  the  committee  replied,  “You  seem  to  forget  that  Senator 
Vest  told  us  the  Missouri  River  Commission  will  not  permit  us  to  build  a 
low  bridge  over  the  river.” 

My  answer  was,  “I  have  already  built  two  low  bridges  over  that  river 
in  spite  of  the  opposition  of  the  Missouri  River  Commission,  and  I see  no 
reason  why  I cannot  build  a third.  I suggest  that  you  send  a representative 
to  Washington  to  interview  Senator  Vest  and  tell  him  that  it  has  to  be  a 
low  bridge  or  no  bridge,  and  that  the  latter  means  the  loss  of  the  capital.” 

This  was  done,  and  a charter  for  a low  bridge  was  soon  afterwards 
obtained  from  Congress;  then  I was  called  again  to  Jefferson  City  to  ad- 
vise what  to  do  about  letting  another  contract. 

I told  them  they  had  gotten  into  hot  water  by  acting  against  my  ad- 
vice in  letting  a contract,  not  only  for  something  which  they  did  not  need, 
but  also  before  the  money  had  been  raised,  but  that  I thought  I could  help 
them  out.  So  it  was  arranged  that  they  would  get  subscribed  at  once  the 
small  balance  necessary  for  a low  bridge,  and  that  I would  prepare  plans, 
specifications,  and  estimates  therefor,  and  then  effect  a compromise  with 
the  contractor  by  making  a deal  with  him  personally.  Fortunately,  he  was 
reasonable  in  his  demands,  so  I closed  the  matter  up  and  prepared  a new 
contract,  which  was  signed  by  both  parties  without  delay,  after  which  the 
construction  of  the  bridge  was  pushed  to  completion. 

When  the  vdte  on  the  removal  of  the  capital  to  Sedalia  was  taken, 
the  people  of  the  state  opposed  the  change,  mainly  because  the  principal 
plea  for  removal  was  no  longer  valid. 

I have  entered  minutely  into  the  details  of  these  two  cases,  pos- 
sibly too  deeply  for  an  address  of  this  kind,  but  I wanted  to  convince 
you  that  there  is  often  required  from  an  engineer  just  as  important  work 
as  engineering  pure  and  simple.  That  it  is  impracticable  to  teach  at  a tech- 
nical school  how  to  handle  financial  problems  and  matters  of  that  sort 
goes  without  saying,  for  such  things  can  be  learned  only  in  active  business 
life.  Nevertheless,  it  would  be  a great  step  in  this  direction,  if  engin- 
eering students  were  well  grounded  in  political  economy  and  the  elements 
of  finance. 

Lectures  on  technical  subjects  at  least  once  a month  by  practical  en- 
gineers of  high  professional  standing  would  bring  the  undergraduates 
into  touch  with  the  business  world,  and  would  enable  them  to  see  the  prac- 
tical application  of  many  of  their  studies.  Another  way  to  effect  the  latter 
desideratum  is  to  have  the  professors  of  engineering  make  a practice  of 


13 


spending  a large  portion-  of  their  vacations  in  the  employ  of  consulting 
engineers  and  contracting  companies,  so  that  they  themselves  may  learn 
how  to  apply  theory  to  practice,  then  teach  the  same  afterwards  to  their 
students.  Several  professors  of  engineering  have  thus  entered  my  em- 
ploy, and  all  have  expressed  themselves  as  well  content  with  the  prac- 
tical knowledge  they  have  so  acquired. 

If  engineering  students  were  instructed  properly  in  the  practical  ap- 
plication of  all  the  theory  they  learn,  they  would  undertake  their  studies 
with  more  enthusiasm.  However,  it  requires  a practical  engineer  to  give 
practical  instruction,  hence  the  suggestion  just  made  concerning  vacation 
work  for  the  professors. 

It  may  be  difficult  to  show  the  practical  application  of  some  of  the 
courses  of  the  curriculum,  especially  the  pure  mathematics,  still  it  can 
and  ought  to  be  done. 

Learn  to  distinguish  between  the  use  and  abuse  of  approximations. 
Some  calculations  should  be  made  with  extreme  accuracy,  while 
others  need  be  only  approximate.  Engineers  are  apt  to  err  in  either  di- 
rection. For  instance,  it  is  a difficult  matter  to  teach  an  experienced  rail- 
road engineer  that,  when  making  a large  triangulation  for  a proposed 
bridge,  it  is  necessary  to  measure  his  base  lines  to  a hundredth  of  an 
inch  and  his  angles  to  a second;  and  on  the  other  hand,  many  bridge 
computers  have  wasted  months — aye,  years — of  their  lives  in  struggling 
with  that  useless  method  of  figuring  stresses  by  'wheel  concentrations. 
Your  irfaturing  judgment  will  soon  tell  you  how  close  to  exactness  any  set 
of  calculations  ought  to  be  made  in  order  to  obtain  correct  results.  Any 
greater  accuracy  amounts  to  mere  hair-splitting. 

This  last  phrase  reminds  me  of  an  amusing  incident  in  my  career. 
I was  once  called  upon  to  pass  on  some  plans  for  a bridge  which  were 
submitted  to  a city  by  the  successful  bidder.  Among  other  faults,  I 
pointed  out  that  the  hip  and  pedestal  pins  were  located  on  the  center 
line  of  the  channels  of  the  inclined  end  post  instead  of  on  the  gravity 
line  of  the  sections  of  the  member.  The  foreign  engineer  who  had  pre- 
pared the  plans  wrote  me  in  defense  of  the  same,  and  stated  in  reply  to  this 
particular  criticism  that  my  objection  was  nothing  but  the  “splitting  of  a 
hair.”  I thereupon  sent  him  a copy  of  my  calculations,  showing  that  the 
little  eccentricity,  which  he  wanted  to  ignore,  increased  the  maximum 
stress  on  the  extreme  fibre  fifty-nine  (59)  per  cent.  This  letter  brought 
the  correspondence  abruptly  to  a close. 

It  is  far  better  for  a student  to  make  all  his  calculations  in  scratch 
books  rather  than  on  loose  sheets  of  paper,  for  he  will  then  be  able  to  refer 
to  them  at  any  time  and  check  them  if  necessary.  You  can  begin  right 
here  applying  the  principle  of  systemization  of  work  by  keeping  the 
said  calculations  neatly  and  in  such  order  as  to  be  easy  for  reference. 

There  is  one  important  matter  which  is  neglected  in  most  engineering 
schools,  viz.:  the  use  and  adjustment  of  all  instruments  employed  on  en- 
gineering work.  Of  course,  the  use  and  adjustment  of  transit  and  level  are 
taught  more  or--  less  thoroughly  at  all  technical  institutions;  but  how 
many  of  their  recent  graduates  can  take  one  of  these  instruments  apart, 
clean  it,  effect  simple  repairs,  and  put  it  together  again?  All  these  manip- 
ulations are  necessary  occasionally  on  field  work,  where  the  party  is 
hundreds,  perhaps  thousands,  of  miles  from  the  nearest  repair  shop. 

Again,  there  are  now-a-days  in  use  by  engineers  several  improved 


14 


attachments  to  the  transit  and  level;  and  these  two  are  by  no  means  the 
only  instruments  which  engineers  employ. 

Take  my  advice  and  learn  all  you  can  concerning  engineering  instru- 
ments before  you  leave  your  alma  mater;  for  you  may  not  have  another 
opportunity  to  do  so  before  you  are  required  to  apply  the  knowledge  that 
I am  advising  you  to  acquire.  Moreover,  you  are  liable  to  forget  in  time 
a great  deal  of  what  you  learn  here  about  instruments.  In  proof  of  this 
let  me  give  you  a little  illustration  from  my  own  experience: 

Last  summer  the  Chief  Engineer  of  the  province  of  British  Columbia, 
who,  by  the  way,  is  a very  old  friend  of  mine,  and  I found  ourselves  some 
five  hundred  miles  up  the  Fraser  River,  about  the  fifty-second  parallel, 
provided  with  a borrowed  transit  and  level  but  no  one  to  run  them,  and 
having  before  us  the  task  of  locating  a suspension  bridge  across  the  river 
and  the  approaches  thereto  on  both  sides  of  same.  There  was  nothing  for 
us  to  do  but  to  get  down  to  first  principles  and  operate  the  instruments 
ourselves;  but  as  they  had  traveled  some  two  hundred  miles  by  train  and 
nearly  as  much  more  by  stage,  it  was  first  necessary  to  see  that  they  were 
in  adjustment. 

“How  long  is  it  since  you  ran  an  instrument?”  asked  my  friend. 

To  which  I replied,  “Over  twenty  years.” 

“Well,”  said  he,  “I  have  not  touched  one  for  twenty-five.  Do  you 
know  anything  about  making  the  adjustments?” 

“Yes,  at  least  I ought  to,”  I answered,  “for  I gave  the  course  in  ad- 
justment of  instruments  at  Troy,  but  probably  I have  forgotten  all  about  it.” 

We  first  tackled  the  transit  and  found  that  we  could  remember  the 
three  adjustments  pretty  well,  so  tested  for  them  and  soon  got  that  instru- 
ment into  good  shape.  Next  we  tackled  the  level,  which  we  found  to 
be  a dumpy. 

We  set  it  up  and  looked  at  it  a few  minutes  without  speaking.  At 
length  my  friend  remarked, 

“Confound  a dumpy  level,  anyway;  I never  could  handle  decently  one 
of  the  infernal  things.  How  in  Hades  are  we  going  to  get  it  adjusted?” 
I replied,  “If  I remember  rightly,  we  shall  have  to  use  the  peg  method, 
but  it  is  over  twenty-five  years  since  I handled  one  of  the  accursed  instru- 
ments, so  I have  forgotten  nearly  all  I ever  knew  about  the  adjustment.” 

To  make  a long  story  short,  we  two  old  engineers  struggled  with  that 
miserable  instrument  for  three-quarters  of  an  hour  before  we  got  it  into 
sufficiently  good  adjustment  to  answer  our  purpose,  after  which  we  pro- 
ceeded with  the  surveys,  finding  by  degrees  our  old  skill  coming  back  to 
us  to  such  an  extent  that,  on  the  third  day,  when  we  had  finisned  our 
work,  we  agreed  that  we  had  enjoyed  it  thoroughly,  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  we  had  slept  for  two  nights  in  the  rain  without  any  shelter  but  our 
blankets  and  a small  piece  of  canvas. 

Let  me  advise  that,  both  as  students  and  engineers,  you  cultivate  a 
love  for  your  occupation.  Unless  you  do,  you  will  never  attain  great  suc- 
cess. The  longer  you  are  engaged  in  engineering  the  more  interesting  and 
absorbing  does  it  become,  and  eventually  you  will  begrudge  from  your 
work  the  hours  spent  away  from  it  even  in  sleep.  There  is  no  satisfac- 
tion that  I ever  experienced  which  quite  equals  that  resulting  from  the 
successful  solution  of  a difficult  problem  in  either  theory  or  actual  con- 
struction. 

The  maintenance  of  a high  standard  for  the  engineering  profession 


15 


is  the  duty  of  every  engineer  both  to  the  profession  and  to  himself.  The 
strictest  integrity  under  all  circumstances  is  absolutely  essential  to  an 
engineer’s  success.  Any  departure  therefrom  is  sure  to  bring  disaster  to 
the  individual  and  disgrace  to  the  profession,  so  let  me  exhort  each  of  you 
to  do  always  the  right  thing  to  the  best  of  your  knowledge  and  power. 

At  all  times  you  should  endeavor  to  maintain  the  dignity  of  your 
profession,  remembering  that  the  public  is  not  likely  to  place  that  profes- 
sion upon  a higher  plane  in  the  affairs  of  men  than  do  its  own  members; 
so  neter  speak  of  it  in  a .belittling  tone;  but,  like  a knight  of  old  in  re- 
spect to  his  lady’s  fame,  be  ever  ready  to  maintain  its  superiority  against 
all  comers. 

And  now  a few  words  in  regard  to  the  requisites  for  a man’s  be- 
coming a successful  engineer. 

He  must  be  intensely  practical,  yet  perfectly  technical;  minutely  ac- 
curate, yet  properly  approximate;  firm  in  his  beliefs,  yet  open  to  convic- 
tion, knowing  where  firmness  stops  and  stubbornness  begins;  courteous 
and  helpful  to  his  contractors,  yet  never  conniving  with  them  to  the  slight- 
est degree;  dignified,  yet  affable;  and  in  short,  a thorough  gentleman,  yet 
never  ashamed  to  do  any  work,  however  apparently  menial,  provided  that 
it  belongs  properly  to  the  engineering  profession. 

In  order  to  encourage  you  young  men  to  renewed  effort,  let  me  state 
that  I most  firmly  believe  civil  engineering  to  be  less  overcrowded  than 
any  other  profession;  that  the  demand  for  good  engineers  is  increasing 
steadily;  that  the  problems  confronting  engineers  are  yearly  becoming 
more  complicated,  demanding  a higher  grade  of  talent  and  training;  that 
the  remuneration  for  engineers  of  all  ranks  in  this  country  is  higher  than 
ever  before;  and  that  the  prospects  for  the  future  of  our  profession  are 
exceedingly  bright. 

In  corroboration  of  the  preceding  statement  I quote  the  following, 
which  I read  (after  this  address  was  written)  in  the  Engineering  Record 
of  March  28th: 

“The  demand  for  engineers  throughout  America  far  exceeds  the  num- 
ber of  men  available.  Several  engineering  colleges  report  already  that 
more  good  places  are  offered  than  there  are  students  in  the  graduating 
classes  to  fill  them,  and  this  in  spite  of  large  classes  and  improved  facil- 
ities. 

“Several  prominent  technical  institutions  are  adding  new  buildings 
and  increasing  their  equipment.” 

Before  closing,  let  me  offer  you,  as  a summary  of  most  of  my  remarks, 
a few  concluding  words  of  advice  in  regard  to  the  remainder  of  your 
course  at  the  Missouri  State  University,  which,  if  you  follow,  will  give 
you  an  excellent  preparation  for  the  life  work  that  is  to  come  after  grad- 
uation. In  all  you  do  be  earnest,  honest,  energetic,  thorough,  and  am- 
bitious. In  short,  strive  to  be  worthy  of  having  ultimately  engraved  on 
your  tombstone  that  most  expressive  Colorado  epitaph: 

“He  done  his  level  damndest, 

No  angel  could  do  no  more.” 


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